Serious Black

Serious Black is a solo project created by artist Steve Mecca to expand and exploit the bounds of electronic, gothic-industrial music. Within the framework of this genre, Serious Black takes old school goth-industrial and deftly applies a sonic defibrillator to revive the jaded listener. After years of exploration and synthesizer/sampler programming refinement, Serious Black was born. Although Serious Black relies heavily on complex electronics, it’s the songwriting skills Mecca brings to the table that separates Serious Black from so many other electronic artists. Surprising variety from track to track is what makes Serious Black unique.
On Barbican, Mecca enlists the talents of Rich LaVere (vocals on “Days of Future Past”) and Qortni (vocals on “The Garden of Earthly Delights”) to further enhance and diversify the auditory experience. The title track “Barbican” is a dark ambient work and is the CD’s lone instrumental piece. It quickly caught the attention of the folks at PBS where it was used for a television documentary about a disaster in upstate New York, entitled “The Flood of ’35.”
“Steve Mecca from New York puts Goth, Industrial and Synthpop into a blender, and more often than not produces a believable whole, erring mainly on the campier side of clubby rules and drool… Our good vocal captain sounds suitably intense during the moodier tracks and perfectly vague and vacant on dancier fare. ‘Voices in My Head’ is beautifully cohesive, creating club material with a sense of character, and even the intentionally Fetish track ‘Discipline’ manages charm.”
- Mick Mercer for StarVox Music Zine
Please visit Serious Black and his label, Dante's Landlord, at www.SeriousBlack.com.